A Comparative study on the effect of salt salinity on germination and early seedling growth of Pennisetum glaucum L. grown in different salt concentration and controlled condition

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) locally named as Bajra is an important cereal crop comprising of high nutritive value, regarded as a healthy food with a balance of nutrients. In this paper the effect of salinity levels on seed germination and seedling growth of Pennisetum glaucum was studied. Two types of laboratory experiments were conducted using the seeds of pearl millet. Two hundred seeds of the cultivar were taken for the experiment, among which 150 seeds were germinated in petri plates containing the tissue to paper above the double layered cotton. These treatments comprised of control (distilled water) 0.05M ,0.1 M, 0.125M and 0.15M Sodium Chloride (NaCl). The treatments were laid with 3 replications. Data was recorded with a gap of 2-3 days of observations. The rest 50 seeds were subjected to germinate under the basal media (MS media) prepared along with the variously added molar concentrations of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) by tissue culture technique, followed by the protocol of sterilization and inoculation. The germination rate of the millet seedlings was examined, the number of seeds germinated in each concentration is compared with the growth in control conditions.